MRS. ELLSWORTHY'S LETTER.
The girls had finished tea, and Hannah had removed all traces of the
evening meal before Primrose would even glance at the thick letter
which was addressed to her. She did so at last, at the earnest
entreaties of her two sisters--for Daisy climbed on the sofa beside
her, and put her arms round her neck, and coaxed her to read what dear
Mrs. Ellsworthy had written, and Jasmine took the letter and placed it
in her lap, and seated herself on a footstool at her feet, and the two
young girls looked interested and excited, and their eyes were bright
with anticipation, and even some impatience.
Primrose, on the contrary, appeared indifferent. She broke the seal of
the thick letter languidly, and began to read its contents aloud, in
an almost apathetic voice.
This was what Mrs. Ellsworthy had written:
"MY DEAR PRIMROSE,
"(You remember our compact that I was to call you Primrose.) I had not
courage to say to you the other day all that was in my heart. My dear
child, it seems rather absurd to say it, but I felt afraid of you. In
the eyes of the world I am considered a great lady--for I have riches,
and my husband holds a good position--whereas you, Primrose, would be
considered by that same world nothing but a simple village maid.
Nevertheless, the innocent and unsophisticated girl contrived to keep
the woman of the world at a distance, and to let her see very plainly
that she thought her curious questions impertinent. When I read this
expression of opinion so plainly in your eyes, Primrose, I felt
afraid, and questioned no further. My dear, it is a fact that cowards
always resort to pen and ink when they want to express a frank
opinion. I am now going to say on paper what I feared to put into so
many words the other night. First of all, you are mistaken about me. I
am not what you think me.
"Oh, yes! I know very well what that proud little heart of yours tells
you about me. It says, 'She is great and rich, and she is curious
about us girls, and she wants to patronize us--'"
Here Primrose had to put down her letter, for she was interrupted by
an exclamation from Daisy--
"But we _don't_ think like that of our darling, pretty Mrs.
Ellsworthy--do we, Jasmine?"
"Go on reading, Primrose," said Jasmine.
Primrose continued--
"You are all wrong about me, my dear, dear girls, and yet, after a
measure, you are right; for in a certain sense I _am_ curious about
you; and most undoubtedly I want to help you. I know already a certain
portion of your story, and already I can partly read your characters.
The part of your story I know is this: You are ladies by birth--you
are very ignorant of the world--and you have not at all sufficient
money to live on. Your characters are as follows:
"Primrose, I am not at all afraid of you on paper. You, Primrose, are
proud and independent. You are also sadly obstinate, and it is
extremely probable that you will take your own way, which I can see
beforehand will not be a wise one."
"Oh! oh! oh!" came interruption No. 2 to the reading of the letter,
and Jasmine's arms were flung tightly round Primrose's neck.
"How can she talk of you like that? How little she knows you, my
'queen of roses.'"
Primrose smiled, kissed Jasmine between her eyebrows and went on
reading.
"Jasmine's character," continued Mrs. Ellsworthy in her letter, "is as
yet unformed. She has high aspirations and generous impulses--if she
is well managed, and if you don't spoil her, Primrose, she will
probably develop into a very noble woman. I love Jasmine very dearly
already.
"As to your little sister, she is as fresh, and innocent, and dainty
as her name; but take warning, Primrose, she is not over strong--there
is a look about the little one which makes me dread the thought of her
encountering any of the roughnesses of life.
"Now, my dear girl, I have read my little bit of a lecture; you are
probably extremely angry with me, but I don't care. I now come to the
practical part of my letter; I am desirous to help you three, and I
want to help you in the way most suited to your individual characters.
The sad fact cannot be gain-said--you must give up your home--you must
earn your livings. May I help you to find a way to put bread into your
mouths? I have thought it all out, and I think I know a plan. If you
will agree to it, you may keep your independence, Primrose; Jasmine
may be developed into the kind of woman God meant her to become; and
little Daisy need not fear the rude blasts of adverse fate."
Here Daisy, who only partly understood the letter, burst into tears,
and Primrose, taking her in her arms, allowed the closely written
sheets to fall on the floor.
"I know what it means," she exclaimed, speaking with sudden fire and
passion; "the same thing has been said to me by two different people
already to-day. Mr. Danesfield said it after his fashion, Miss
Martineau after hers, and now Mrs. Ellsworthy repeats the words. Oh,
yes, I know what it means--separation--I will _never_ consent to it!"
Jasmine had been kneeling on the floor and picking up the scattered
sheets of Mrs. Ellsworthy's letter; she now raised her eyes in utter
astonishment to her elder sister's face. Primrose was not accustomed
to giving utterance to strong feelings. Primrose's words were wont to
be calm and somewhat measured. Jasmine knew that she herself flew into
tempests of grief, or anger, or excitement--she was always being
chided for not restraining her feelings--she was always being gently
lectured for using too strong expressions. What did Primrose mean by
throwing down this kind though somewhat mysterious, letter, and by
making use of so ghastly a word as "separation?" Who was going to
divide them? Certainly not kind Mrs. Ellsworthy.
"Had we not better hear what she says, even though you don't seem
quite to like her, Primrose?" asked Jasmine, holding up the sheets.
"There are two sheets more, quite full of writing--shall I read them
aloud to you and Daisy?"
But Primrose had not got over the excitement which was growing within
her all day; she took the letter out of Jasmine's hands, folded it,
and returned it to its envelope.
"I must speak," she said; "we can finish that letter afterwards--the
letter does not greatly matter, after all. Do you know, Jasmine, and
do you know, Daisy, that these people who all mean to be so kind, and
who, I suppose, really feel good-natured towards us, are trying to
take our lives into their own hands? They are not our guardians, but
they want to rule us--they say we cannot live on our income, and they
will show us how we are to live. Mr. Danesfield will give money, if
needed; Miss Martineau will give us heaps and oceans of advice; and
Mrs. Ellsworthy will give patronage, and perhaps money too. They mean
to be kind, as I said, and they think they ought to guide our lives.
Of course, they consider us very young and very ignorant, and so they
say they will provide for me in one way, and Jasmine in another, and
Daisy in another. Now what I say is this; let us choose our own lives,
Jasmine and Daisy; don't let us do anything rude to our friends, for I
know they are our friends, but let us be firm and keep together. These
people want to divide us; I say, let us keep together."
"Of course," said Jasmine; "is that really what the letter
means--separation? Here, give it to me--" She snatched it from her
sister, and flung it with energy to the other end of the apartment.
Daisy nestled her soft little face up close to her eldest
sister's--Daisy was still feeling things incomprehensible, and was
also a little frightened.
"Go on," continued Jasmine, "go on talking, Primrose--we are quite
with you, Daisy and I--what nonsense the people must have in their
heads if they think we three are going to part!"
"But we are in a very painful and difficult position," continued
Primrose. "We have certainly got to earn our bread, and we don't at
all know how to earn it. We are not educated enough to go anywhere as
governesses, although Miss Martineau did say that I might perhaps get
a little place in the nursery; but in any case people would not want
three governesses in one family, and, of course, Daisy is too young to
earn anything for many a long day. Jasmine, I have been thinking over
all this most seriously--I have been thinking over it for some hours,
and it seems to me there is nothing at all for us to do but to go to
London."
"Where Poppy is going?" interrupted Jasmine; "delicious--lovely--my
dream of dreams! Go on, Primrose darling; I could listen to you all
night."
"But we mustn't go only for pleasure," continued Primrose; "indeed, we
must not go at all for pleasure. We must go to work hard, and to
learn, so that bye-and-bye we may be really able to support
ourselves. Now, there is only one way in which we can do that. We must
take that two hundred pounds which Mr. Danesfield has in the bank, and
we must live on it while we are being educated. We can go to a cheap
part of London, and find poor lodgings--we won't mind how poor they
are, if only they are very clean, with white curtains, and dimity
round the beds. We'll be quite happy there, and we'll make our two
hundred pounds go very far. With great care, and with our thirty
pounds a year, it might last for four or five years, and by that time
Daisy will have grown big, and you, Jasmine, will have grown up,
and--and--perhaps you will have found a magazine to take your poems."
"Oh! oh! I never heard of anything so delicious!" exclaimed Jasmine.
"Long before the five years are out I'll be on the pinnacle of fame.
London will inspire me; oh, it is the home of beauty and delight!
Where is Mrs. Ellsworthy's letter?--we will never finish it? I am
going to burn it on the spot rather than allow any other idea to be
put into your head, Primrose?"
Primrose smiled again, and before she could prevent her, her impetuous
sister had torn Mrs. Ellsworthy's letter into ribbons, and had set
fire to it in the empty grate.
"We must not be too sanguine about London," she said; "only it does
seem the only independent thing to do. Then, too, there is that letter
of dear mamma's and all that sad account of the little baby brother
who was lost so long ago. Hannah says that he was lost in London--he
must be a man now; perhaps we shall meet him in London. It certainly
does seem as if it were right for us to go."